Heel-protector for rubber shoes.



C. BESSE.

HEEL PROTECTOR FOR RUBBER SHOES.

M PL|cAT|oN FILED ocT.19. 1915.

1,187,489. Patented June 20,1916.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHlNamN, D` c.

CECILIA BESSE, OF WATERTOWN, MAVSSACHUSETTS.

HEEL-PROTECTOR FOR RUBBER SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 2G, 1916.

Application filed October 19, 1915. Serial No. 56,786.

To all @07mm t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CECILIA Busse, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Watertown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Imiiirovement in Heel-Protectors for Rubber Shoes, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My present invention is an improved rubber overshoeand heel protector therefor, the

protector being specially adapted for appli-y cation to a rubber shoe or overshoe.

In the use of rubber shoes, particularly rubber overshoes or rubbers, the greatest wear comes upon the heel portion, as is well known, and as soon as the rubber in the heel is worn through, the overshoe no longer is waterproof and must be discarded.

My invention has, for its obj ect, the elimination of this difficulty in rubber shoes, particularly overshoes, and I have devised a metallic heel protector, especially adapted for use on a rubber overshoe to prevent the wearing down at the heel, and yet which may be easily attached to the overshoe without forming holes through the rubber which would endanger the waterproofness of such overshoe.

The combination of the rubber shoe with a heel protector is peculiarly difficult, since any rivets, prongs, or the like through the bottom portion, which might be employed to hold the protector on to the rubber, cannot be used in an overshoe without destroying the waterproof characteristic of the overshoe and rendering same unsatisfactory. My invention overcomes these difficulties and enables a rubber shoe with a firmly secured metallic heel protector to be manufactured, which will not only prevent the wearing out at the heel of the overshoe, but which will be held firmly and securely thereon, and without any openings through the bottom portion of the overshoe nor through the sides, excepting so far above the heel as to be above the ordinary depth of water apt to be encountered by the wearer. I accomplish this object by a novel form of heel protector adapted to fit around the heel portion of a rubber shoe, protecting the edge and bottom of the heel and having a plurality of prongs extending entirely above the treadk surface of the heel, where they may be turned in and clenched upon the counter, well above the ordinary depth of water to which the shoe would be likely to be plunged. I provide the bottom or tread portion of the protector with a plurality of specially formed recesses or openings to fit snugly into and interlock with the tread surface of the rubber heel, which rubber will be forced therein, thus uniting the metallic protector and the rubber of the heel in a firm yet yielding contact. These recesses, furthermore, are preferably so formed to provide a roughened or antislipping surface on the eXposed tread portion of the metallic heel protector. These recesses, therefore, perform the important function of enabling a firm union with the bottom of the rubber Vheel to be secured without rivets, nails, prongs, or the like, which would penetrate the rubber and endanger the waterproofness of the same, as well as constituting an anti-slipping and wear-resisting surface.

`Referring to the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of my heel protector and a rubber shoe equipped therewith, Figure l is a side view of an overshoe embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a view partly in longitudinal cross section of the heel portion; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. l; Fig. t is a top plan view of the heel protector; and Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the protector detached from the shoe.

In the drawings, 1 indicates a rubber overshoe of ordinary type, having the rubber sole 2, instep portion 8, and rubber heel lf-in the heel portion also, is the usual counter 5.

My heel protector has the important advantage of being readily applicable to any existing overshoe, no special construction of the rubber shoe being necessary to enable the heel protector to be applied. Such metallic heel protectors will be made of suitable style and sizes to lit a corresponding size and style of rubber shoe, and may also be of appropriate color, z'. e. black, tan, or the like, to correspond with the color of the overshoe to which it is applied.

The heel protector comprises the bottom plate 6, having an upturned flange 7 which plate and flange areof appropriate size and contour to fit snugly around the heel portion of a rubber shoe. The plate 6 is formed with a plurality of recesses or openings 8 extending from the inner or rubber-engaging surface downwardly, being preferably stamped through the plate 6 and forming a roughened, anti-slipping surface, 9 on the outer side of the plate 6. rEhe plate 6 also is provided with upstanding prongs 10, ll, y and 12, atopposite edgesvof the plate 6 and f at the rearmost end, substantially as indicated in the drawings. g These prongs eX- c tend upwardly `for a considerable length,

f preferably as high as the counter 5, where e shown in Figs. 2 and 8. These points be.

ing suficiently high to prevent any. danger they may be bent inwardly over or through the counter and clenched therein, as clearly of leakage during the ordinarynsage to which theY rubber may be put. The protector and rubber are united with suiiieient irm pressureV to force the plate 6 somewhat into t ie surface' of the rubber heel t, embedding vthe bottom ofthe rubber directly into Vthe lany rivets or the like penetrating the rubber, will be readily appreciated. The ,wearresisting effect Aobtained by the metallic heel Copies ofthis patent may be obtained Vfor and the anti-slipping tread lsurface the metallic portion y.are specially important ad- Y vantages.

VThe protector can be applied to the existing overshoes with a minimum of time and labor, and Without special skill or tools.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s:

A rubber shoe, having in combination with the rearmost portion of the heel, armetallic protector, adapted to fit about the lower backv cornerof the tread surface and having a large number of depressions arranged to constitute embedding and suction members on the tread of the rubber shoe'to provide a firm union of the protector and the rubber shoe, said vsuction members consisting in antif slipping projections on the outer tread surface Vot'v the protector, and a plurality of ,j

prongs extending from the tread portion ofV the protector and clenched within theV rubber shoe at a point remote from the tread surface.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my naine to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. l Y

` Y CECILIA Busse.

yll'itnesses Y JAMES R. HODDER, f v.

SEBASTIAN VAUGHN.

live cents `eacri, by addressing* the fcommissioncr of Patents, Waslngton. ILC. f' I 

